DRINKING WATER
U.S. Pipe Supplies Nearly 24 miles Of Pipe To Support Clean Water Efforts In Waukesha, WI
U.S. Pipe supplies 34 miles of 30-inch ductile iron pipe for Waukesha’s Lake Michigan water project, delivering reliable, high-pressure infrastructure for generations of residents.
DRINKING WATER CASE STUDIES AND WHITE PAPERS
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AMERICAN SpiralWeld Pipe Delivers For City Of Phoenix Drought Pipeline Project
Phoenix’s Drought Pipeline Project, supported by AMERICAN SpiralWeld Pipe, secures clean water for North Phoenix, delivering up to 75 million gallons daily and earning top industry awards.
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The Importance Of Pool Water Quality
Palintest is pleased to announce that Lumsio Pooltest 6 and Lumiso Pooltest 3 are now National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) and American National Standards Institute (ANSI) certified
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Standards For Testing And Certifying Cured-In-Place Pipe
It is estimated that nearly 75,000 miles of wastewater and water pipelines have been lined with Cured-In-Place Pipe (CIPP), with nearly $3 billion spent annually on the trenchless renovation method, worldwide. Recognizing the growing use of CIPP and inability of CCTV inspection to accurately or consistently certify trenchless rehabilitation as defect-free, this paper chronicles the emergence of new guidelines to test, certify, and accept CIPP lining projects, using Focused Electrode Leak Location (FELL) inspection.
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Case Study: Improving RO Performance
The client's reverse osmosis system utilized coagulants, antiscalants and cleaners to produce high quality water. With the current chemicals, the reverse osmosis system was cleaned every 90 days due to scaling or deposits.
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Lakes Powell And Mead Don't Have To Dry Up
First, it was Lake Mead, behind Hoover Dam. Now it's Lake Powell, upstream of Mead and behind Glen Canyon Dam. The water supplies supported by these feats of engineering are dwindling. There are many reasons, but it's not necessary.
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Eagle Mountain Eases Into Technology Upgrade With Sensus FlexNet EasyLink Solution
Learn how a Utah Water Utility adapted to rapid growth with the help of Sensus.
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Are Your Customers Turning Up Their Noses At Your Drinking Water?
There have been a number of surveys on water-utility customer satisfaction over the past few decades and, unfortunately, the news tends to be less encouraging than it should be. Is it safe to chalk up those responses to personal tastes or preferences, or is it time to do something about turning them around before it’s too late? Here are some resources to consider.
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Stable Chlorination & Easy Chemical Transport For Rooftop Cooling Towers With Sigura™ Cal Hypo
Sigura™ calcium hypochlorite offers cooling tower operators and their service providers a highly effective biocide designed for controlling microorganisms to maintain system cleanliness, achieve associated production efficiency gains, and help guard against biofouling. Learn how a West Coast service provider's switch to Calcium Hypochlorite lead to a more consistent chlorine concentration and eliminated the need for frequent pump adjustments.
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Case Study: United Water New Jersey Discovers Large Leak On 42-Inch Water Main With Echologics Transmission Main Leak Detection Service
United Water New Jersey (UWNJ), a subsidiary of United Water, one of the leading water and wastewater service providers in the United States, provides water services to more than 800,000 people throughout Bergen and Hudson counties and surrounding areas. By Mueller Water Products
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Automated Disinfectant Generation And Control Systems Produce Consistent Residual Levels In Aqua Pennsylvania's Distribution System
Aqua Pennsylvania (Aqua PA), an Aqua America subsidiary, serves more than 1.4 million people in 32 counties across Pennsylvania. Aqua PA has significant experience using chloramine chemistry to mitigate trihalomethane (THM) disinfection byproduct formation in its many distribution systems.
DRINKING WATER APPLICATION NOTES
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Application Note: Troubleshooting A pH Electrode1/26/2011
Many factors affect performance of a pH electrode. When performance degrades, it is always a challenge for the analyst to identify the cause. Common troubleshooting procedures, which include evaluation of slope, electrode drift, time response, and accuracy, take considerable time. By Thermo Fisher Scientific
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How To Read An Encoder9/13/2013
The HR-E LCD encoder has a 9-digit Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to show consumption, flow and alarm information. The display automatically toggles between 9-digit and 6-digit consumption, rate of flow and meter model.
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Reduced Bore Electromagnetic Flowmeter10/29/2021
Being able to accurately measure both the quantity and rate of water passing through a water distribution system is crucial to gain an informed understanding of overall efficiency. As such, achieving a measurement that is exact as possible can have a significant impact on key areas. This includes supply planning, maintenance, resource deployment, leakage detection and the overall environment.
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Solution For Algae Blooms12/17/2015
Harmsco® Filtration Products is pleased to offer a solution to the ever increasing blue-algae blooms in water sources. A multi-barrier approach is necessary to physically remove intact (algae and cyanobacteria) before they rupture in the treatment process and then remove extracellular cyanobacteria through adsorption.
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Application Note: Miami Conservancy District Uses Nitrate Screening As Conjunctive Management Tool1/20/2010Tasked with monitoring a watershed covering nearly 4,000 square miles, almost 2,300 miles of rivers and streams, and a huge aquifer that provides drinking water for more than 1.2 million people, water quality monitoring specialists at the Miami Conservancy District (MCD) in Dayton, Ohio, have their hands full. By YSI
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Innovative Solutions To Drinking Water Decontamination In Small And Medium Treatment Plants9/21/2017
Air stripping technology effectively removes VOCs, THMs, and CO2 for improved adherence to water quality regulations.
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Application Note: YSI Real-Time Water Quality Monitoring And The IPSWATCH-EMPACT Program12/28/2005The Ipswich and Parker Rivers watersheds lie only a short distance north of Boston, MA. The first settlements in these watersheds began in the early 1600s. Since that time, residents have relied heavily on the natural resources of the Parker and Ipswich Rivers, their coastal estuaries and Plum Island Sound, which is known as the Great Marsh. This ecosystem has been designated and protected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
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Waterworks Joints 10110/30/2025
There are many different joints that can be found on waterworks pipeline components. This paper focuses on the three most common joints.
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Protection Of Membrane Systems Utilized For Municipal Water12/1/2020
As water scarcity issues around the world become more acute, more municipalities are having to turn to alternative water sources for potable water supplies. Also, many municipalities in coastal areas are seeing the quality of their water sources degrade as sea water intrusion occurs.
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Performance Test Services For UV Advanced Oxidation Systems12/1/2025
UV AOP performance verification requires a robust test matrix covering design, operating, and control conditions. This process includes on-site execution, sample analysis, and troubleshooting to achieve successful regulatory approval.
LATEST INSIGHTS ON DRINKING WATER
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When people think about agricultural pollution, they often picture what is easy to see: fertilizer spreaders crossing fields or muddy runoff after a heavy storm. However, a much more significant threat is quietly and invisibly building in the ground.
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As water systems become more circular and complex, understanding and managing the subsurface — the hidden half of the water cycle — is becoming a critical enabler of resilience. This article explores the key trends shaping this new reality, from tackling “forever chemicals” to the water strategies redefining heavy industry.
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The White House has finalized plans to roll back rules under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), narrowing its focus and limiting what the current administration claims are needless delays for federal approval of water, energy, and other infrastructure plans. For water and wastewater utilities, the changes could speed up permitting for critical projects, although experts warn the tradeoffs could do more harm than good.
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Setting Global Standards: Inside North America's Only Full-Scale UV Disinfection Validation FacilityPortland's industry-leading facility reaches 100 reactor validations in 23 years.
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Given the maturation of sensor technology, the scientific and operational hurdles to portable lead analysis are somewhat surprising — but surmountable.
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Bathymetric modeling maps underwater terrain. It also helps guide planning, prevent hazards, and build climate-resilient infrastructure.
ABOUT DRINKING WATER
In most developed countries, drinking water is regulated to ensure that it meets drinking water quality standards. In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administers these standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
Drinking water considerations can be divided into three core areas of concern:
- Source water for a community’s drinking water supply
- Drinking water treatment of source water
- Distribution of treated drinking water to consumers
Drinking Water Sources
Source water access is imperative to human survival. Sources may include groundwater from aquifers, surface water from rivers and streams and seawater through a desalination process. Direct or indirect water reuse is also growing in popularity in communities with limited access to sources of traditional surface or groundwater.
Source water scarcity is a growing concern as populations grow and move to warmer, less aqueous climates; climatic changes take place and industrial and agricultural processes compete with the public’s need for water. The scarcity of water supply and water conservation are major focuses of the American Water Works Association.
Drinking Water Treatment
Drinking Water Treatment involves the removal of pathogens and other contaminants from source water in order to make it safe for humans to consume. Treatment of public drinking water is mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. Common examples of contaminants that need to be treated and removed from water before it is considered potable are microorganisms, disinfectants, disinfection byproducts, inorganic chemicals, organic chemicals and radionuclides.
There are a variety of technologies and processes that can be used for contaminant removal and the removal of pathogens to decontaminate or treat water in a drinking water treatment plant before the clean water is pumped into the water distribution system for consumption.
The first stage in treating drinking water is often called pretreatment and involves screens to remove large debris and objects from the water supply. Aeration can also be used in the pretreatment phase. By mixing air and water, unwanted gases and minerals are removed and the water improves in color, taste and odor.
The second stage in the drinking water treatment process involves coagulation and flocculation. A coagulating agent is added to the water which causes suspended particles to stick together into clumps of material called floc. In sedimentation basins, the heavier floc separates from the water supply and sinks to form sludge, allowing the less turbid water to continue through the process.
During the filtration stage, smaller particles not removed by flocculation are removed from the treated water by running the water through a series of filters. Filter media can include sand, granulated carbon or manufactured membranes. Filtration using reverse osmosis membranes is a critical component of removing salt particles where desalination is being used to treat brackish water or seawater into drinking water.
Following filtration, the water is disinfected to kill or disable any microbes or viruses that could make the consumer sick. The most traditional disinfection method for treating drinking water uses chlorine or chloramines. However, new drinking water disinfection methods are constantly coming to market. Two disinfection methods that have been gaining traction use ozone and ultra-violet (UV) light to disinfect the water supply.
Drinking Water Distribution
Drinking water distribution involves the management of flow of the treated water to the consumer. By some estimates, up to 30% of treated water fails to reach the consumer. This water, often called non-revenue water, escapes from the distribution system through leaks in pipelines and joints, and in extreme cases through water main breaks.
A public water authority manages drinking water distribution through a network of pipes, pumps and valves and monitors that flow using flow, level and pressure measurement sensors and equipment.
Water meters and metering systems such as automatic meter reading (AMR) and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) allows a water utility to assess a consumer’s water use and charge them for the correct amount of water they have consumed.